and mackrel-fishery: where my dues were half a dole out of every fifhing-boat, which were ufually about thirty in each so that instead of Tythes, or the 10th part, I received only about one 60th of the product of the fea. I here fet up publick prayers morning and evening every day, in a chappel within the town; and therein, to encourage a more numerous and constant attendance, I used, after a while, befides a leffon out of the New Testament, that abridgment of the publick prayers, which had been before collected by fome good man, and published, under the title of The Common-Prayer-Book the beft Companion. Which when I informed bishop Lloyd of, he highly approv'd of what I had done, and ordered that book to be bought for him. I constantly preached twice a day at the church, which was three furlongs out of the town; and all the summer season at least, I had a catechetick lecture at the chappel in the evening, defign'd more for the inftruction of the adult, than for the children themselves; to which lecture the diffenters also would come, and by which I always thought I did more good than by my fermons. This method of catechizing was begun by me at bishop Moor's chappel at Norwich, for his children, and fome others that defired to be my auditors there: nay, the bishop himself would come fometimes; and approved of my lectures fo well, that he once moved me to print them; but I told him I could not do that; for they were not written down, but fpoken off-hand, from short notes, as a great part of my fermons at Lowestoft were also which gained me time for my other more learned ftudies, without neglecting my cure : and by being naturally spoken in a more easy way, and more familiar ftile, were generally more edifying and acceptable than elaborate, compofed difcourfes; which, in thofe of a learned education, are are not feldom quite above the level of ordinary capacities; fuch as the generality of our hearers must needs be. I alfo took care that my curate preached once a day at Keffingland, and once at Corton; a very poor neighbouring ignorant village, of hardly any revenues, and formerly abandoned to diverfions on the Lord's days: while every month I gave them of Keffingland a fermon myself, in the morning, and a catechetick lecture in the afternoon. I alfo, a little, tried there to inftruct the private families on week days at home, but found their heads and hands fo engaged, about their husbandry, that I could only do it in the evenings of lord's days, when they were more at leifure: but I was foon recalled to Cambridge, to be Sir Ifaac Newton's deputy, and afterward his fucceffor, in the beginning of this century, when I refigned my living, fo I fhall not enlarge farther on my behaviour in that place. I fhall only add to what is in my life of Dr. Clarke (page 9. 1ft. edit.) these two facts which I well remember to have happened to me, while I lived at Lowestoft. The parifh-officers came once to me to defire me to fet my hand to a licence, for fetting up a new alehouse in Lowestoft, the juftices, it feems, paying that compliment to the town, as not to fet it up without the confent of the minister, (and I fuppofe of the church-wardens alfo.) My anfwer was fhort," If they would bring me a pa 66 per to fign to pull down an alehoufe, I would "certainly fign it; but would never fign one to "fet up an alehoufe." At another time there came to me an order from Mr. Bachelor, who then acted in the ecclefiaftical court as a deputy to Dr. Pepper, chancellor of Norwich, for reading an excommunication against a woman of my parish, who, it feems, had called another woman whore : thefe courts not being able to proceed, till fuch an excommunication is read in the parish church: upon upon this, I went and enquired of the fober people in the neighbourhood, whether this imputation was believed to be true or falfe? The anfwer was, that "the accufer might have kept her tongue between true. her teeth, yet they doubted the thing was too "true." I then wrote to Mr. Bachelor, that I was furprized to have an order for reading an excommunication against a poor woman, for fpeaking what the fober people in the nighbourhood thought to be His anfwer was, Veritas Convitij non excufat. conviciantem, a maxim of the modern antichriftian, but not of the ancient chriftian law; of which fee my pamphlet of Chriftian Difcipline, page 63, 64. However, I never did read that excommunication; nor do fuch ecclefiaftical courts generally do other than overturn all good order in matters of religion; excepting it were under fuch an excellent chancellor as Dr. Tanner, afterward bishop of St. Afaph, who was difpofed to ufe his power more for the real advantage of good order and difcipline, than any other in that office within my knowledge; till the nicety of fome law of the land fpoiled his defigns for any farther reformation. In the year 1698-9 I wrote to bishop Lloyd, a true account of fome late elections of fellows at Clare-Hall, Cambridge, juft before I married and left the college; as I had written to him another letter in a like cafe. These elections were things of great confequence to the college at that time; and I was fo deeply concerned in them, and, at last, so unworthily trick'd by fome ill men there, that I could not forbear writing an account of them for the bishop: whether I fent it him I cannot now remember: It is however preferved, and fit to be known by the master and fellows of that college; to whom I shall be ready to communicate it at any time; altho' it be of too private a nature, and too long, to be published to all the world in this place. However, However, there were two perfons (to fay no. thing of many others) fo utterly ruined in my time in our college, for want of due encouragement to fobriety and virtue, and defect of college difcipline, that I cannot forbear mentioning their cafes, tho' without naming the perfons; and I do it for a caution to the prefent and future members of that and other focieties. The first example which I fhall give fome account of, was one of my own year: he came to the college with a sweetness of temper, a fkill in oratory and poetry very extraordinary, and was accordingly very much beloved in the fociety he came a fober youth, and fo continued for his first year; but after that year, he fell into the acquaintance of a drinking fophifter, who foon made him drink like himself: I then gave him a friendly caution, and told him, that if he did not take care, that fophifter would be his ruin; as he was accordingly; for it is now, I fuppofe, above forty years fince he could hardly bring a glass of wine to his mouth, his hand fo trembled: yet was his company still so acceptable, that the youths, who were to ftand for fellowships, by getting in with him, and drinking with him, endeavoured to make their way to our fellowships. One of which youths they killed, with a bowl of punch; and yet did he foon go with his other companions to the tavern, to drink in piam Memoriam of their friend whom they had just killed; till, in a little time, this fine youth himself died with drinking; which, tho' it did not kill him fo foon as if he had ftabb'd himfelf with a dagger, yet it did it as furely. The fecond example was one of the next year to us, and who came a good fcholar, and had an excellent memory, and was fober for feveral years, and one of a triumvirate of fober men; of which I was one, and my friend Mr. Laurence, of whom hereafter, was another. Now this poor unhappy man came came at laft to ftand for a fellowship, foon after Mr. Laurence and I had been made fellows, and had by confequence with the fore-mentioned perfon of my year votes in that election. He thought at firft that of the electors the major part were on the fide of the drinkers; and accordingly forfook his fobriety, and for a month or fix weeks drank hard with them at the tavern, till we that were his old fober friends saw it, and discarded him, and refolved to choose a better, because a more fober candidate, in his room, I mean Mr. Troughton, who was afterward my curate, as already mentioned. He at last found his mistake, and that the fober party were likely to be the majority, fo he forely repented of his debauchery, and tried earnestly to recover his old friends votes, but to no purpose. One circumftance was peculiar to myfelf, who, during this interval, was walking in the back walk of the college, or rather fitting down in one of the end feats: this unhappy man came to me there, and fell down on his knees to me, confeffing that he had turned debauchee for preferment, as thinking that was the way then to it in Clare-Hall; but folemnly protefting, that if I would believe him, and give him my vote, he would ever afterward become a fober man, as he had been formerly. My answer was fhort, but fuch as cut off all his hopes. "Sir, faid I, you "have confeffed that you have facrificed your integrity to your preferment, and thereby made it impoffible for me to ferve you.' After which, his oppofite candidate, Mr. Troughton, was chofen, and he himself halted between fobriety and debau chery afterwards, and became at last one of the moft miferable clergymen that I ever heard of. 'Tis a terrible state which the poet defcribes, Video meliora, proboque; deteriora fequor. Which was the ftate of this poor man, whofe amazing ill conduct 66 66 H and |